Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey
I've been to Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, so I wanted to try something a little more adventurous this time. I heard a fair amount of warnings before the trip (given all the propaganda Americans have been fed over the past 10 years, plus State Department warnings), but the people were very welcoming and generous, especially when the car broke down in a stone village which had more tractors than cars, with no one around who spoke English.
For some reason you won't get comment boxes on individual photos if you click on the photos below; you have to go straight to the album this way: https://plus.google.com/photos/107459220492917008623/albums/5646672037554147281
I've let Brian Rose know so the Photos team can take a look at that.
I've been to Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, so I wanted to try something a little more adventurous this time. I heard a fair amount of warnings before the trip (given all the propaganda Americans have been fed over the past 10 years, plus State Department warnings), but the people were very welcoming and generous, especially when the car broke down in a stone village which had more tractors than cars, with no one around who spoke English.
For some reason you won't get comment boxes on individual photos if you click on the photos below; you have to go straight to the album this way: https://plus.google.com/photos/107459220492917008623/albums/5646672037554147281
I've let Brian Rose know so the Photos team can take a look at that.
Stunning!
ReplyDeleteimpressive !!
ReplyDeleteI lived in Istanbul, really great city :D
ReplyDeleteawesome
ReplyDeleteJust amazing!
ReplyDeleteYes, really beautiful. Old world charm.
ReplyDeleteWonderful set
ReplyDeleteThere are state department warnings about Istanbul? I can't imagine.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very west friendly city and the people polite and decent. It's beautiful and modern, ancient sites with modern comfort. I'd put Istanbul on my top 10 cities to see for any traveler, and the Aegean cost in my top 10 trips.
Great shots!!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Thanks for sharing with us!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteJason Nunnelley Yes, but Turkey is credited as being 98% Muslim, so we have to keep the fear alive (sarcasm). Like watching a magic show, we're kept captivated and distracted with wars and bogeymen in one hand, so we can be robbed blind with the other.
Just last night I watched "Capitalism: A Love Story". I'm no liberal, nor do I follow Michael Moore's work, but there's an amazing amount of detail in that movie about what happened before, during and after the mortgage crisis and bailouts. It's truly astounding. Every American should be required to watch it before the next election.
really gorgeous work!
ReplyDeleteReally great photos. :]
ReplyDeleteIstanbul is a very friendly city, just ignore the SD propaganda.
outstanding tribute, awesome images
ReplyDeletei really LOVE istanbul!
ReplyDeleteAmazing set. So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBeen a few years since I visited Istanbul. Great Shots.
ReplyDeletethere are several clumsy, unintuitive, frustrating things about g+ image handling. lots of potential. hoping for fixes, but when new things are added before addressing the basics it uncomfortably reminds me of facebook's approach.
ReplyDeleteyour photos are spectacular. thank you.
nice views of pictures
ReplyDeletethanx for sharing
Thanks for offering your wonderful job!!!!
ReplyDeleteJeffrey Sullivan Michael Moore calls corporate fascism liberal capitalism. It's a bit less than totally honest.
ReplyDeleteThe whole American demonization of Islam thing is a bit ridiculous, jingoistic idiocy. Not that there's not some legitimate conflicts between western and Islamic culture historically, but 99.something% of Muslims live in relative peace with the West and our differences seldom translate into violence.
I think most Christians, Muslims, Hindus, etc. would prefer to just get along. The state is usually the problem, not the faith.
Very impressive feats of architecture.
ReplyDeleteI love your album as well as I love Istanbul, and I think it's because I love this mix of cultures, traditions and the respect for the others, your album shows a big part of this. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteJason Nunnelley Yeah, I'm no big fan of Michael Moore, but I have to give him due credit for the most clear explanation I've seen, that everyone should see. The details of who paid off who, and how nearly $1 TRILLION was instantaneously stolen from us (with immunity from prosecution written into a strikingly brief and vague bill) is fascinating, and should not pass without consequences for those involved.
ReplyDeleteOn corporate fascism, Franklin D. Roosevelt in an April 29, 1938 message to Congress warned that the growth of private power could lead to fascism:
The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism—ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.
The recent Supreme Court ruling that corporations could spend unlimited amounts on political campaigns essentially removed the last barrier between what we've called Capitalism and fascism. We've arrived. We're in a truly scary position. With Homeland Gestapo reporting to the military, outside of our legal system, we no longer even have any basic protection or rights under the Bill of Rights. All justified by lies about WMDs, in a country which had nothing whatsoever to do with the Saudi (who we trained to be a terrorist) who did attack us after we established military bases in his country to support the dictatorship there. Perhaps in part to support continued growth of military spending (thanks to corporate investment of lobbying payoffs)? Notice how "defense" is magically exempt from nearly all discussion of cuts? The investment must be huge; no other lobbying category is that successful (or takes half of our annual federal budget expenditures). So we're full circle back to rampant corruption and corporate control in our current system.
It's important in times like these to consider that the right to bear arms was specifically to protect "we the people" from the distinct possibility of a corrupt government. After all, the United States was founded in an act of revolution.
THANKS...
ReplyDeleteWonderful set !
ReplyDeleteawesome!
ReplyDeletean excellent series -- beautiful location
ReplyDeletePictures to my taste, very beautiful and well done!
ReplyDeleteThe building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Roman Emperor Justinian(Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus Augustus)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the memory flogger! I traveled around the West half of Turkiye (It's their country - the Turks can spell it the way they want) a year ago June. Saw many of the same sights. When the Hagia Sophia scrolled onto my screen, my chin dropped, and I said, apparently to my computer screen, "I've been there"! I took a similar pic., but mine is a simple snapshot. As a picture taker, I am humbled.
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful, and serendipitious. I've never been to Istanbul, but have the inspiration to have it as one setting for a story I am crafting. It also evokes East/West bridging themes, that I'd blend into the narrative. Your photos have cinched my leaning to follow this instinct. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the feedback, history, and travel suggestions!
ReplyDeleteI visited Turkey in 2001. It's by no means anti-west. Turkey is still a member of NATO, and has US soldiers stationed in Izmir. There are few Islamic populations as friendly toward Americans, even though it's us who've been crapping all over that relationship the last decade. We have that tendency with all our close allies.
ReplyDeleteHajar LAAMARTI I would love to explore Morocco!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! I'm revisiting a few old posts to see what sharing them to a Collection might do. It's nice to see the engagement and dialog that was present and possible early on on G+ (before Google converted G+ to a forum for promoting people with personal friendship or personal financial ties).
ReplyDeleteRecently someone expressed concern over traveling to Turkey, not uncommon among Americans, based on the depiction of Turkish prisons in the 1978 movie Midnight Express. Here's what Billy Hayes, the actual person depicted in Midnight Express, has to say about the movie:
The real Billy Hayes regrets 'Midnight Express' cast all Turks in a bad light
There's no doubt the movie is a chilling and powerful cautionary tale, but here's the thing: Most viewers come away with the wrong message. That's the opinion of Hayes himself.
"The message of 'Midnight Express' isn't 'Don't go to Turkey,' " he said recently. "It's 'Don't be an idiot like I was, and try to smuggle drugs.' "
http://www.seattlepi.com/ae/movies/article/The-real-Billy-Hayes-regrets-Midnight-Express-1134196.php
I had a wonderful time exploring the country for a month, and can't wait to return!